The Dragon's Voice
by Dragon Courage
Summary: Alexian is a stable hand, fairly common, right? only if normal stable hands talk to dragons and even have the ability to change into one! Join Alexian for the adventure of her life as she discovers what her ability is really for. i suck at summaries and this one sounded way too light and happy, the story is actually much darker this is alternate universe no characters from db OC AU
1. introdragon

It was around six in dragon city, the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon. Generally, not many inhabitants were awake so early. They valued their near comatose state of sleep far more than watching the dawn. The only civilians who were awake were working or preparing for a day of work. All except for a single, idle child with pure white hair.

She was standing at a petite five feet on top of the roof of a rundown stable. Alexian was her name. She blinked to greet the newborn dawn, revealing soft golden eyes the color of honey sparkling in the sunlight. While short, she was skinny, weighing only seventy pounds. She had pale skin and slender bones. Alexian stood watching the day begin.

Familiar venders began shouting their wares several streets over, taxis and bus services prepped, and humans began to succumb to that, apparently, all too cumbersome state of being awake. ( The humans greeted this state of irritation with the general moaning and griping, snooze button-hitting and rolling over-ing, and, in some cases, shouting and cursing of the very dawn.)

Alexian loved all of these familiar noises, even the more colorful reactions to dawn, but the morning noises she loved best were that of the dragons waking. Dragons woke with soft snorts, gentle growls, joyous roars, and general joy. Unlike humans, dragons loved the day and the beginning of new like every daybreak.

Dragons stood at smallest, in their adult age, at least ten feet tall, at tallest they could grow to be almost three times that. There were generally three kinds of dragons; the bulls, the raptors, and the skythes.

The bulls were generally, all though there were some exceptions, the largest and DEFINITELY the heaviest. They often reached weights over twenty tons and heights of over twenty feet tall. The larger breeds of this class were used for buses and tours of the city. Despite their often frightening appearance, most bulls are rather gentle, some even timid. The smaller bulls are the ones used in competitions, such as; team racing, dragon ball, and dragon tug, etc. The smaller ones also have slightly more aggressive personality, although they rarely become feral.

Raptors tend to be the smallest and fastest of the three classes. Raptors grow to around twelve to thirteen feet and only weigh about three to four tons. They are the only dragons who only walk on two legs. Raptors can race at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, or at least they can in theory. No human has ever been able to hang on at speeds of over 200. Raptors generally have catlike habits, like sleeping most of the day, seeing well in the dark, and keeping themselves are commonly recorded in speed competitions, such as; dash races, team races, mag comps, hurdles, and etc. Raptors generally possess fairly good tempers, unless insulted. They are considered the smartest class, due to their ability to sense when a human is degrading them. If one were to insult a raptor than they would face deadly consequences. Raptors were known to react viciously when enraged, and add in their sharp fore-claws, and a furious raptor is a universal DON'T. If a raptor is left alone for too long, without human contact or a guiding hand, they may become feral.

When a dragon becomes feral they become wild. Dragons are wild to begin with, but the different between a feral dragon and a normal one is the different between a Labrador curled at your feet and a foaming timber wolf. The only cure for a feral dragon is rehabilitation, and if the dragon remains feral a shot through the head with a pulse pistol.

Skythes were the final class of dragons. Like the bulls, Skythes walk on four legs, however they lack the bulky body that bulls possess. They are fast like raptors, but not quite as fast. While bulls are meant for stamina at low speeds, and raptors are meant for short, quick bursts of extreme speed, a skythe is meant and bred for both high speeds and long journeys. The larger skythes grow to around twenty or twenty-two feet. Sometimes, however, if bred correctly, a skythe male can grow to twenty five feet. The larger skythes are often used for taxis. They generally have a gentle character. Although they seem to know what humans talk about, like raptors, they have less of a temper. The smaller variety of skythes are generally used in competitions such as; racing, dragon jousting, dragon ball, team racing, and mag comps. The smaller of the skythes have more of a temper than the larger variety, but not as much as the raptors. Skythes are generally higher maintenance than other dragons as they need to feel cared for, or at least have plenty of human interaction.

Those are the here basic types of dragons, however within each breed there are hundreds, if not thousands, of varieties. Some glow in the dark, some have extra mag power, some even have an extra claw. And there are just as many different competitions for different dragons to shine.

Alexian stood listening to the sounds of awakening dragons from across the city, they, like humans, were also very vocal about the dawn, although not quite so colorful in their ways of expressing it.

Below her, in the stable, she recognized the rumbling roar of Appalachia, a bull living at the stables for a few months, and several others.

Blaze, a red, hot tempered skythe screamed a shrill dawn cry, challenging the very day. He was new, Alexian still hadn't gotten the chance to interact with him yet, Ray, the other stable hand, had been working at this particular stable longer so he got the new ones.

High pitched whistles twisted up from beneath the roof. Those noises belonged to the triplets. The triplets were three raptors just beginning their third year.(it takes a dragon four years to mature, three years to be able to begin training.) each triplet was a different color; red, yellow, and green. Originally, they had been boarding in the stable, but then their former master had been unable to pay for their stay. Orlick Jones, the owner of the building and the manager, had gained them into their possession through a lawsuit. However, he soon grew tired of them, they refused to listen to him or Ray, he hadn't let Alex near them yet, and he was looking at having to pay for a trainer. Alex was able to interact with them when neither Orlick or Ray was around, and they listened to her, but, then again, most dragons did.

From across the street, Alexian could hear the rumbling growls of the waking truck bulls. Boss, Clay, Gigan, and Sahara. They pulled the big carts of the moving company. Alexian went over there once a week to give them baths and other general maintenance.

The cacophony of noises began to subside as the sun finally lifted away from the horizon. Alex sighed and let the soft sounds of dragons wash over her, more therapeutic than any treatment for Alex. She turned on her heel and lifted the hatch to the hayloft, where she slept. Ray slept in a spare supply closet, preferring his privacy. Alex could do the same, but she preferred to be with the dragons whenever she could, and they were calmed by her presence.

"Her Room" really consisted of a couple of hay bales placed to form a wall around one corner. Alex strode into the corner, and jerked off her night clothes, soft pants and a light, sleeveless shirt, and threw them on her bed, a straw mattress lying where the two walls met. Alex hurried over to her trunk at the foot of her bed and flipped it open, revealing several photographs pinned to the bottom of the top, and brought out a pair of work clothes.

Almost all her clothes were passed down from Ray's little brothers, given to Alex by Ray's mother who felt sorry for 'that poor defenseless orphan girl'; and as such, they were boy's clothes and rather baggy. They complete hid Alex's dainty figure, although Alex really preferred it that way, and made her look bigger somehow. An old T-shirt draped across her fragile shoulders, it was multicolored at the sleeves and the color. Baggy jeans made soft by years of use and abuse hung down to her feet, where they were hemmed up a good seven inches at her ankles. Alex put on a pair of thick work socks, donning large brown leather boots as she stood.

Alexian climbed down the ladder into the corridor area of the barn( the place where all the stalls come off of, not sure what the correct name is) and ran over to Ray's closet. She pounded on the door yelling at the top of her voice for him to wake up. Ray was a good honest 18 year old worker, but her had the most annoying habit to sleep through anything, much like the dragon he raced. Orlick let Ray race and compete with Coral, a soft pink skythe with the sweetest personality, in return for twenty percent in any and all winnings.

So here Alex stood pounding on his door, trying to wake him up. _He has a race today_, thought Alex as she gave one last final bellow and raced to get Coral ready. She didn't have to, but she did it anyways, she wanted to wish him luck in her own way. He knew what she meant and he appreciated it, of course, he didn't understand to the full extent of what she was really doing to help him, but he still appreciated the young fourteen year-old.

Alex reached Coral's stall and whistled to her. Coral perked up from her water trough and trotted over in excitement, she liked Alex and she also knew what Alex coming to get her meant. Alex grabbed the halter from a hook beside the stall door and reached over the bottom half of the door, placing the halter firmly around Coral's head. Alex gripped the bottom of the halter at the place where the lead rope clasp was supposed to go and opened the bottom of the stall door. She lead Coral out of her stall. The stalls were made for a dragon's full height, but the door wasn't quite so tall, so Coral had to duck her head as she walked out of the confines of her stall. In size, Coral was a medium sized raptor. She had mag stripes along both flanks that she could flare when she wanted to in order to temporarily blind and stun the opponent. Now she was pleasantly excited, so her stripes beat with the rhythm of her heart, just enough to dissuade the shadows remaining from the night in the barn. Alex walked with her nose just over her shoulders, a daring move of trust few racers and trainers risked. They said that they would never expose their back to a beast

Alex led her over to the tethers. Just before they reached them, however, a draft blew in and rustled the tether that Ray had forgotten to loop up, as it was hanging from the beam. This spooked Coral and she balked and began to shy away, raising her dangerous front claws and baring her teeth at what her instincts warned her could be an enemy. Alex quickly reached up and pressed her palm against Coral's nose, sending her calming confirmations that the tether was no threat.

That was another strange thing about Alex, she had a very strange connection with dragons. If she came in skin to skin contact to one, she could sense it's emotions and communicate with it on a basic level. Alex had never told anyone about her gift, she just kept it to herself. Alex figured that dragons had two ways of communicating with one another; one, their vocal cords, two, empathy and a basic form of telepathy. She figured with that with dragons they would not need skin to skin touch to use the second option, after watching them for so long. Alex could also sometimes, if she was in danger, call to ones that she was familiar with.

Now, Alex reassured Coral that the tether was not an enemy and led her over to it. Carefully, Alex walked Coral in between the two beams, before grabbing the tether from each and attaching them on to her halter. Alex then trotted over to the brush box and collected three scale brushes. One to get rid of all the dust, another to buff Coral's scaled, and a third to use on sensitive areas, around the eyes, ears or ear holes, around the mouth, ect.

Alex began to brush and dust off Coral's scales, keeping skin to skni contact with her at all times. Alex sent images of races, running, and crowds. Alex sent a sound similar to the dull roar of the crowds. Along with these loud and crazy images, Alex sent a sense of complete calm to Coral, a sense of readiness and confidence.

By the time Alex was done brushing, Coral was calm, silent, and motionless, like one of the very best well trained mounts. As Alex was putting away the brushes, Ray came in, dressed in his racing jacket and matching pants. "Whoa, she's pretty calm today."

"She must know it's racing day," Alexian answered.


	2. Ch 2 Enter the wraith dragons, Part 1

CH 2 the wraith dragon part 1

Alex tried to block out the sound of the crowd in the stands, around and behind her, it was just too overwhelming. There were so many dragons here with so many emotions, that she didn't need to have skin to scale contact to feel a little of all of their feelings. She could shut them off, of course, but the empty, numb feeling- which, Alexian supposed, was how normal humans felt- was, in her mind, worse than being befuddled and overwhelmed.

Alexian was standing beside Ray's girlfriend, Mika, in the pits, where the teams of the dragons who were racing were seated to give encouragement through vid-coms. Mika was chatting to Ray now, her tan face expressing her excitement. "… I just know we're going to have a great day, today. By the way, have you ever asked Alex where she got her tats, they're drac! I mean, at first they're just shapes, then you notice the outer little tendrils, and then you notice the dragon claw in the center! They're a work of art, anyways….." Mika was reffering to the marking on Alex's forehead and chest. The one on Alex's forehead was just below her hair line, a gold mark she had had since birth. A gold triangle that bled out in curly tendrils and twisting lines. In the center of the triangle, just slightly a different color, was a dragon claw imprint. The same mark adorned her chest, in the indention where her collarbones met.

Alex turned her mind and gaze back to the track. The track itself was fairly simple, a single circuit, no splits in the track, no complicated twists and turns. Just a simple track with a few hurdles in the final stretch.

Ray and Coral were at the starting line with the rest of the competing racers. Coral stood adorned with her saddle, Ray, and some gear. The other dragons were all down right nervous, lashing their tails in anticipation and occasionally snapping at one another. Only Coral stood calm and serene, like the eye of a storm. Her mag stripes were flashing ever so slightly, but other than that she was motionless, to all the world a veteran racer. Alex's therapy had worked wonders.

Out over the middle of the track the commentator, Filch Mason, hovered on his flying hovercraft, signaling the beginning of the race. The crowds in the stands ceased their racket when they saw him hovering there, patiently waiting for silence.

He spoke some words about the race, but Alex wasn't really paying attention, keeping her gaze on the dragons. She thought she had seen something flickering among the dragons. There! Beside the final row of dragons, there was a flicker and a blur. Similar to the kind one would see on a hot day, but different. This blur was smaller, and it was moving.

Alex was so preoccupied trying to watch the blur, that she didn't notice the words, on your mark, get set, go, and was startled by the sound of the traditional mag cannon when the dragons took off. Alex vaguely heard Mika screaming and cheering into the vid-com, however it was just static to her. She was too busy looking for the blur, but she did notice that Ray had pulled into first place. Most dragons, unless specially trained to do otherwise, were nervous at the sound of the cannon and at being on the track. This caused them to use up valuable energy and time at the beginning of each race fighting their riders before they finally took off. Coral only acted different because of her treatment with Alexian earlier that day.

Alex continued to look for the blur at the starting point, she didn't know why she was looking for the blur, she just knew it gave her an unpleasant feeling in both her mind and the pit of her stomach. Alex turned her attention back to the racers as she heard the crowd gasp. The dragon that had been in last place was now on its side, its rider had been thrown. Alex guessed that it had tripped.

It was then, however, that Alex noticed a strange feeling in the back of her head, like a dragon but less noticeable. Alex twisted her head and focused on the feeling, trying to get a better feel for it, to see what it was. Almost immediately she wished she hadn't. Alex gasped at what she was feeling, although no one noticed because they were gasping as well, another dragon, the one that was now in last place, had fallen and thrown his rider.

Alex sat down on the bench and clutched her head as the feelings she was getting intensified. The emotions she was picking up were disgusting, like the most vile thing she had ever felt. It was similar to what she felt from a dragon, but the similarities ended there. This was nasty, even the meanest dragons Alex had ever met looked like angels in comparison. This was vile and sadistic, whatever was creating this feeling found glee in the pain in others, as though it was feeding off their miseries. It was almost cannibalistic.

Alex calmed herself down, reminding herself that if she could feel it, whoever, _what_ever, might also feel her if she couldn't keep her emotions in check. She glanced back at the race, Ray and Coral were still in the lead and gaining a bit of a head start, thanks to the activated speed gear. The crowd around Alex gasped as, once again, the last dragon fell and threw its rider. This one was a turquoise skythe and it looked hurt. At the same time that the skythe fell, Alex felt the sadistic glee in her mind increase. Alex realized that whatever she was feeling was being projected by whatever was tripping the dragons on the track. She began looking for the blur again, having a hunch.

It didn't take Alex long to find the blur making its way up to the next dragon. Alex's brow furrowed and she glanced at Mika's binocs, gaining sudden inspiration. "Mika," Alex said, "Look through your binocs, towards the last dragon, put them on heat seeker mode, now!"

Mika glanced at Alex looking uncertain, but she did as Alex asked and looked through her binocs towards the last of the racers. She gasped all of a sudden, her face turning almost as pale as her highlights in her brown hair. "Whoa, something bloody huge is on the track, if I didn't know better, I would think it was a dragon. It's bloody invisible." (AN she's English if you can't tell)

All of a sudden, another dragon fell, screaming in terror and pain, as it slid across the track. Mika's eyes widened and she whispered, "That thing is the reason the racers are falling.." She turned to me, eyes wide, and said, "We've got to tell someone, that thing could hurt somebody. I'm going to go warn the other teams. This is sabotage. Stay here and watch that thing."

She tossed the binocs to Alex and left, not noticing that she was in almost physical pain from the vileness that the creature was sending out. Alex gritted her teeth and set her shoulders. She had to help Coral, after all, she had been reassuring Coral just that morning that everything would be all right. Alex had promised. If Coral got hurt now, Alex would never be able to look her in those pink puppy eyes again.

Another dragon fell and Alex gasped as suddenly she was seeing two scenes before her, the track and the track again, but the second scene was from a view of the track. The emotions were almost overpowering now. The image was flickering in and out of Alex's vision like tv with a bad connection. The flickering visual was moving forward along the track, towards the dragon that was now in last place.

Alex whimpered, already knowing what she was seeing. Before her eyes, the monster's eyes really, a black claw lashed out, slashing the hind legs of the little raptor. Gold dragon blood spurted from the wounds and the dragon screamed, tumbling to a stop, it's hind hamstrings severed, to never race or run again. Suddenly, the view through the monster's eyes stabilized and Alex got the disconcerting feeling of looking at a different view through each eye.

Alex felt her terror build within her as she saw that the next dragon was Coral, her bright color and neon pink stripes unmistakable. She could hear the crowds around her screaming, they had realized that something was attacking the dragons, the last fall had been too violent for them to think otherwise. In all this chaos a small, sobbing, white haired girl-child holding her head in her hands, clearly terrified went unnoticed. Mika was still on the other side of the pits, showing the other teams how to see the invisible menace.

Alex could see the beast getting closer to Coral, feel the creature's sick yearning for life's blood. It would kill this time, Alex could feel it. The closer that the monster got to sweet Coral, the more Alex's flames of fear grew to a bonfire. _Coral… Coral! Coral!_ Thought Alex, as she whispered the dragon's name, growing slightly louder every time.

The menace kept approaching, yearning for blood. Just as it was upon Coral, Alex screamed out, "_CORAL!_"

Subconsciously, Alex attacked the beast in her mind, hardly realizing what it was she was doing. However, Alex's scream had not only been vocal, but mental as well. Coral heard her friends cry, felt her terror, and adopted Alex's emotions as her own. Coral's mag stripes lit up, bright enough to cause the crowd to look away for a moment. The effect of both attacks, mental and visual, was too much for the monster.

It tripped, tumbling over its own feet, screaming in agony. Alex saw Coral bolt towards the exit off the track, Ray barely hanging on, through the eyes of the beast. She could see they were safe, but she continued to attack the monster mentally, refusing to give it mercy after what it almost did. It tried to get up, but Alex attacked it, causing it sufficient pain to keep it from returning to it's feet. Suddenly, Alex felt another force within the monster's mind, pushing her back and out.

Alex came to her own body suddenly and painfully. She moaned, clutching her head as it pounded out her autopsy report. Suddenly, she remembered where she was and lifted her head from her hands. Around her, the teams in the other pits were whispering together, gathered around cell phones and cameras. The crowd in the stands above and behind Alex were doing something similar. Alex sighed, satisfied that no one had seen her do whatever it was she had done. Alex looked out to the track, silently thankful for only one field of vision, and, other than snippets of the many dragons around her, only one set of emotions to deal with. She hadn't really expected the beast to stay at the scene of the crime, and it had not. However, there were scrapes in the track, where it had fallen and scratched at the ground in agony, courtesy of Alex's mental attack.

Alex was curious about what she had done, but her head hurt too much to think real deep about it. She decided to see if she could see Mika or Ray and Coral, so she stood up and attempted to look around, although standing up caused for her vision to flicker around the edges.

She couldn't see them and decided not to risk the stairs from the pits, the pits were only called the 'pits' due to the fact they were the lowest stand, not because they were necessarily close to the ground. Alex sat down, more in an attempt to make her world stop spinning than anything else. She tried to gather team Mag Blaze's, their team, things, but suddenly found herself unable to focus on any object. Suddenly she felt something warm on her feet and looked down, seeing red splotches covering her favorite boots. She realized that it was blood, and she also realized that it was coming from her nose, but these realizations didn't shock her. Alex vaguely saw her world turn itself sideways as the darkness that had been at bay at the edge of her vision consumed her sight. She didn't even feel the bench as she fell onto it, or the floor as she subsequently struck that as well.

**i'm sorry for any grammatical errors, i tried my best- helpless shrug- and, Blitza i'm talking to you my one and only reviewer- stoicly stifles a sob-, i know that there are already names for the different kinds of dragons, but my names are cooler. :b sticks tongue out**

**so enjoy and don't be afraid to rant, any review at this point is welcome. stoically stifles another sob**

**well bye!**


	3. Ch 3 enter the wraiths P2

Ray's pov

Ray held on tight as Coral took off down the track, leaving the other, irate dragons, behind in their dust. He easily got into Coral's gait, a smooth easy rhythm, like the ocean itself.

Of course, he knew that normally Coral would have stayed back with the other dragons. Alex didn't know it, but he knew she had something to do with Coral's unusual calm attitude that morning. He acted like he didn't know, but he had known for some time that she could somehow calm dragons. He hadn't realized it, of course, until she had ceased a raptor fight in front of him. He was still oblivious about most things, after all, just not something that obvious.

He didn't use her like a tool, in fact, he treated her like a sister and wanted to protect her and whatever gift she had from people who would use her without regard to who she was. She was a sweet little girl, despite her strange looks. He didn't pry into her business, simply watched over her, even covered for her without her knowing it.

He was in first place when he heard the crowd gasp he glanced back to see the dragon that had been in last place had taken a fall and thrown it's rider, which, considering it was a raptor and that the raptor's body landed on the rider, must have been pretty painful. He turned back to the race, pitying the unfortunate pair.

He zoned out, ignoring the crowd, even ignoring Mika, giving himself to the race and the feel of the wind racing by his face. God, this was life, this was freedom. Mika raced a little, too, so she understood the feeling, she could relate to how racing _really_ felt. Poor little Alex hadn't ever raced before. She didn't seem to follow their conversations about racing. Ray didn't even know if she had ever ridden before.

_Although,_ thought Ray,_ she doesn't seem to have an interest in it anyway. She's more set on companionship. _

Suddenly, Ray was broken from his conversation by the screams of the crowd. He looked around and spotted the dragon behind him. Somehow, the little raptor behind Coral was on the ground screaming in pain. Ray spotted the golden blood at its haunches and knew that it would never run again. He heard the announcer cry out, "There's something on the track!"

Ray wasn't sure how, but he instinctively knew that it was after Coral next. He urged her onward, attempting to outrun it and get to the exit. Ray glanced back and, to his horror, saw their attacker. All Ray saw was a large blur, but the attacker was invisible anyway.

It was almost to them, when Ray felt Coral seize up, and knowing what happened when she was spooked, he lowered the visor of his helmet, tightened his grip, and squeezed his eyes shut. Just in time, apparently, as Coral flared and bolted with renewed energy, lent to her by terror. Ray gritted his teeth in pain, as her felt his left hand wrenched to an awkward position, but he ignored it.

Ray heard a scream and looked behind him, to suddenly be able to see his attacker. It must have been shocked by Coral's sudden mag flare to lose its invisibility. It was a dragon, only not. It was pure black, only not. Shadows seemed to swarm it, and choose it for their natural place of resting. It terrified him. However, before he could continue to stare at it, Coral bolted towards the exit.

Behind him, he could still hear the beast's screams, which he considered strange. It shouldn't still be in pain from Coral's mag flare. Suddenly, having a hunch, Ray managed to twist in his seat, looking back to where he knew Mika and Alex were. He couldn't see Mika, but that was ok, he wasn't looking for her. His visor magnified what he saw, so he easily picked out Alex. She was seated on the bench, head in her hands. Suddenly, she jerked up, and, simultaneously, the creature that had been screaming in pain stopped and regained invisibility.

Ray saw Alex stand and look around, apparently she didn't see him, but he did see her. Ray's heart sped up when he saw crimson liquid run down her nose. He lost sight of her when Coral passed the exit of the track and onto the street where dragons and their racers often hung out. Ray began to slow Coral down, but it took him a while. Once they had run around five miles, she finally heeded to his touch, slowing to an eventual stop.

He leaned over and rubbed at the back of her head, trying to reassure her. Eventually, Ray was able to walk her back towards the track. Unfortunately, if Coral ran again, she was likely to bolt in the state she was in, so Ray couldn't rush to Alex like he wanted to. Instead, he settled to call her on the vid-com. First he called the vid- com in the their pit, but all he got was an empty view of the pit. Ray tried to call Alex's personal vid-com, but she didn't pick up.

He attempted to swallow down his worries, but his last sight of her on the track was too much of a mouthful, the image of blood dripping down her pale face left Ray's gut scraping the ground and his heart flying. "la, la, fa, la, la, fa….."

Ray's phone startled him almost to the point of dropping, it but when he realized that it was ringing, he clung to it like a lifeline. Mika's face appeared on screen, cheeks pale and sapphire eyes wide. "Ray! Are you ok? That thing almost got you!"

Ray grinned, thankful Mika was ok, and said, "Yeah I'm fine. Just a little shaken, and Coral is in a right state, you should see her. she won't even stand still. Have you seen Alex? Is she ok, you know she's like a sister to me." Ray allowed some of his worry and desperation give an edge to his voice, to the point it cracked.

Mika looked startled at Ray's tone of voice, as she answered, "No, I haven't gotten her on the vid- com or anything. I figured she was fi- Ray, what's wrong? Is Alex ok?"

Mika gazed through the vid-com worried, to her Ray was overreacting. She hadn't ever noticed anything strange about Alexian. Ray answered, panic in his voice, "Mika! Find Alex, she might be hurt. I'll meet you at the gates to the pits." Ray hung up his vid-com, a sickening feeling growing in his gut.

Mika's pov

Mika stood looking at her vid-com. Ray had seemed so worried about Alex, but surely he knew that Alex was fine and in the pits, right? Mika shook her head and took off to the pits, unnecessary or not, if Ray was worried about Alex, that meant Mika was, too.

Mika slowed to a stop as she reached the ladder to their pit. "Alex, are you ok?"

When she didn't get an answer, Mika started to climb the ladder to the pit._ They should really make these things for miniskirts and high heels,_ thought Mika as she struggled with the first few steps.

As Mika reached the middle of the ladder, she saw something fall past her face, from the pit. She looked up. And wished she hadn't as her heart took off without her. There was a crimson substance dripping through a crack in the ply wood. Mika felt her insides turn into ice as she recognized the sinister substance for what it was, blood.

Mika increased her pace, not caring what the pervs below thought if they looked up. She reached the top and shoved open the door. She screamed and almost passed out in a mixture of emotions. Alex, white as snow, lay on the floor beside the bench. Her white pallor contrasting drastically to the pool of blood her form rested in. Blood continued to sluggishly stream from her nose and ears. Mika knelt, dropping her handbag on the floor. She opened her vid-com and called Ray.

Ray's pov

Ray was just leading Coral back to the gate when he got a call from Mika. Ray was stunned by her face. Pale and frightened. Something was wrong, Mika was never scared. She was like a lioness, brave and bold. He knew what this was about, but this little-still-hopeful-voice still made him ask anyways. "Mika, what's wrong?"

Mika glanced down at Alex, still out cold on the floor, and back to Ray. "It's Alex, she's hurt, somehow. When I came in, she was out on the floor. Ray, she's bleeding from both her nose and her ears. I think something is really wrong; it's a lot of blood. Should I call for a medic?"

Mika couldn't hold her tears anymore. She sniffed and tried to look strong, but she'd never had something like this happen to her. Ray was quick to notice, and tried to look strong and reassuring, he didn't desire for Mika to be frightened. "Don't worry, Mika. I'm sure Alex will be fine, just, stay with her until I get there. And, Mika, try to keep it quiet. I don't think bringing attention to ourselves right now is the best idea, if you know what I mean." Ray gave emphasis on the last bit. He just knew that Alex would not appreciate any sort of attention, especially not if she had done what he thought she had.

Ray switched off his vid-com and concentrated in reigning in Coral, she had sensed his unease and was responding to it. She was snapping at the crowd surging from the track, the crowd fleeing the strange beast they had seen on the track. Ray tightened her restraints, forcing her head towards her chest.

Ray dismounted and lead Coral through the gates, keeping both hands over her mouth to keep her from snapping at him. He reached the pits and his blood ran cold as he saw the medics gently lowering Alex to the ground. Mika was answering questions to a doctor. When Ray approached, he heard their conversation.

"Has Alexian ever experienced lightheadedness, headaches, or fainting spells, recently?" The doctor was in his mid-thirties with a graying beard.

Mika looked scared as she answered, "I don't know, I'm not usually around Alex, Ray is. Although, she did seem kind of quiet, but she's always that way, not just today."

Ray coughed politely and Mika and the doctor whirled around in shock. Mika had tears on her cheeks and she flung herself in to his chest, sobbing. "Oh, Ray," she sobbed into his shirt, "something's wrong with Alex. The doctors….. sob… they said that something was wrong with Alex's brain, 'cause she isn't hurt from any sort of impact. They think it could be cancer! Sob sob… Oh, Ray, what if Alex is dying, she's only fourteen, for goodness' sake!"

Ray wrapped his arms around Mika, trying to comfort her. He _was_ worried, but he didn't want Mika worried, he loved her, even though he'd never told her. **( hi, Dragon Courage here, I plan to keep these two together for the duration of the book, I might even have them married if my muse calls for wedding bells. Cause they're really a cute couple! If you don't want this please tell me) **

Ray lifted Mika's head, so he could look into her eyes, and said, "Mika, it's alright. Alex is going to be fine, she was probably just stressed. A little rest and I'm sure she'll bounce back like normal." Mika sniffed, but she quit sobbing and began to hurriedly wipe her eyes, embarrassed for overreacting like she did. She had known what Ray told her, but seeing Alex so pale and all the blood, it was terrifying. Mika pulled away from Ray and said, "Ok".

She was still scared, but having someone she loved and trusted as much as she loved and trusted Ray helped her settle her sea of emotions.

Ray and Mika followed the ambull to the hospital, where Alex would be taken care of. Thankfully, the hospital was pretty close, just over a block from the track. The medics rushed Alex inside, leaving Mika and Ray to wait in the waiting room. They sat in silence for an hour and a half, before a nurse came to get them, telling them that Alex was going to wake up soon.

Mika and Ray followed the nurse to Alex's room, on the third floor.

**ok, i know i don't exactly have the most usual of update times, it's honestly more like when i feel like it, but i am SO SORRY! i promise to at least try to update more often and more normally maybe even on a real schedule **

**oh, yeah heads up for next chappie, i need evil villain names, so if you could just submit a few, that would be AWESOME, thx**


	4. Ch 4 Enter the Wraiths P3

Chapter 4

**(AN: I just had to do an evil villain scene, this wouldn't be complete without one. I can't think of any names, so I was wondering if any of you would mind if I asked you guys to submit a few in the reviews? I probably won't name them for a while, but I need those names, so if you have an evil villain name, please submit it. The Master was configured from pitch-black form, out of rise of the guardians)**

"What were you thinking?!"

An angry man stood tall and menacing before a kneeling boy. The boy looked petrified. He had blond hair and brown eyes, boasting a good muscle tone, despite his skinny stature.

In the shadows, figures paced, slipping in and out of the shadows like wraiths. Not all of them were human.

"The mentor of this Apprentice, step forward, immediately."

This order was directed to the circling shadows. Slowly, almost reluctantly, a shadow detached itself from the walls and stepped into the light, revealing a middle-aged man of stocky build. He sported greasy black hair and glassy green eyes, like those of a fish. He kneeled before the tall menacing man in the center, mimicking his apprentice.

The man towering before the two began to pace in irritation. How dare they? How dare they fail him?!

The tall, menacing figure paced and finally spoke, "Apprentice, you had a mission. To sabotage the race of the Deep West's second track. So, so simple. And, yet, you failed, didn't you?!"

The man ceased pacing and gripped the boy's chin with claw-like finger that cut into the boy's soft face, forcing the boy to look him in his beady yellow eyes. Through poisonous- yes, his teeth are really poisonous- fangs the man hissed, "Explain yourself, Apprentice!"

The boy shivered at the continued contact with the Master- this doesn't count as his name- as his Master was very cold. However, only a small portion of his trembling was from frigid temperature, his first and foremost emotion was fear. "Th-th-there was…" The apprentice stuttered in terror as his Master tightened his grip on his face, sharp claws digging into fragile skin.

"I'm waiting, Apprentice."

"There was a Guardian interfering!" the boy managed to belt out his message in one fell swoop and cringed against his Master's sudden ruthless claws sinking into his skin.

The man, if that is what he is, ripped his claws free of the boy's face in a spray of blood. The boy flinched and whimpered, but knew better than to cry out. He had been beaten for worse in his nine tender years. "WHAT?!"

The shadows around the edge of the room drew back, as though in fear of the man's rage, and the boy cowered, while the mentor flinched and looked anywhere but at the Master. The tall, intimidating black clothed man advanced on the mentor. Upon reaching the shorter man he gripped his face, and glared into his eyes. The shorter man began to cry out in pain and terror as the tall man's yellow, reptilian eyes flashed.( for those of you who don't know, beanpole is reading fishy's mind) For several seconds this continued, until the taller man released the shorter. The shorter crumpled weakly and gracelessly to the ground, and the taller spun on his heels to resume pacing, whilst voicing his rage, "How did the Guardians even know of today's race?"

The boy spoke up, "I don't know, Master. There was no real interference until the final target."

The tall dark demonic man glanced sharply to the boy. "Explain."

The boy tentatively looked up, daring a glimpse of his Master's face, and answered, "After the Wraith tripped the first dragon, I sensed a slight presence in the Wraith's mind. The feeling continued as the Wraith incapacitated the next several dragons. By the time the Wraith had targeted the last dragon, a small, coral colored raptor, half of the senses were gone. When I ordered the Wraith to kill the last dragon, the presence attacked mentally, both me and the dragon. The coral raptor also reacted to mental stimulus by flaring its mag stripe. I assume that was the Guardians' doing. Once I recovered from the initial attack, I was able to force it from the Wraith, hence it regaining its invisibility."

The tall man stood silently, contemplating the Apprentice's report. The little boy remained kneeling, hardly daring to breathe. He was frightened, of course, by his master; but he felt neither resentment nor rebellion. He blamed himself, no one else is responsible when he fails, after all. Eventually, the yellow eyed man spoke, "Apprentice, you are dismissed. I expect a full written report by later tonight. Seekers, come forth!"

The boy left, slipping into the shadows relieved; he would not be punished by Master again. Form the shadows circling along the walls, several gaunt figures strode. The tall, yellow eyed man eyed them for a moment before speaking, "Bring me the Guardian."

The figures rose, and, as one, flew from the room, in search of their prey.

**I know this is a might bit short, but it'll have to do. happy late fourth, i would've posted this earlier if i could, but i was in the country, celebrating.**


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